Skip to main content

Resolution Concert

Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
4 stars
In the unlikely event of KT Tunstall’s musical career ever going belly
up, she could easily make the grade as a presenter on a par with her
Fife compatriot Edith Bowman. Or that’s the impression Ms Tunstall gave
fronting this New Year’s Day initiative which she curated all her
support acts before playing a full set herself. As one might expect
given Tunstall’s roots, it’s largely a Fence Collective heavy affair.

Silver Columns, aka Pictish Trail and Adem, kick things off with a
short set of gay disco electronica that’s quite odd to hear at teatime
rather than at midnight in a club, but which warms things up nicely
anyway. Glasgow sextet Kassidy are hirsute enough to look like the
1970s classic rock band their sound already resembles while looking
like they’ve stepped out of a spaghetti western, while Tunstall joins
her mentor King Creosote, aka Kenny Anderson, on backing vocals for one
song before Anderson launches into the manic euphoria of The Happy
Song.

All of the above is rattled through in just over an hour, after which
Tunstall returns sporting a fetching pair of sparkly pantomime pants
and a mouth-loads of banter. The next hour’s worth of songs is
delivered with such infectious pep that it’s hard to dislike Tunstall
or her band featuring former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherly. There
may be missed cues, a bash on the head from a microphone and an
unlikely cover of Erasure’s A Little Respect that takes three attempts
to get going, but Tunstall is charm itself. Finally, Suddenly I See
gets the Princes Street crowd bouncing in what must surely be the most
upbeat start to the year ever.

The Herald, January 3rd 2011

ends
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Peter Brook – The Prisoner

Peter Brook is no stranger to Scotland, ever since the guru of European and world theatre first brought his nine-hour epic, The Mahabharata, to Glasgow in 1988. That was at the city’s old transport museum, which by 1990 had become Tramway, the still-functioning permanent venue that opened up Glasgow and Scotland as a major channel for international theatre in a way that had previously only been on offer at Edinburgh International Festival.
Brook and his Paris-based Theatre des Bouffes du Nord company’s relationship with Tramway saw him bring his productions of La Tragedie de Carmen, La Tempete, Pellease et Mellisande, The Man Who…, and Oh Les Beaux Jours – the French version of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days – to Glasgow.
Thirty years on from The Mahabharata, Brook comes to EIF with another piece of pan-global theatre as part of a residency by Theatre des Bouffes du Nord, which Brook has led since he decamped to Paris from London in the early 1970s. The current Edinburgh residency has alr…
Post a Comment
Read more

Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare's Globe Comes to Glasgow

Open-air Shakepeares are a summer-time perennial of the theatre calendar, attracting picnicking audiences as much as midges. More often than not, such romps through the grass are frothy, heritage industry affairs designed to be accompanied by strawberries and cream and not to be taken too seriously. Shakespeare’s Globe theatre company look set to change such perceptions when they open their outdoor tour of Romeo And Juliet in Glasgow next week as part of the West End festival.

For the two young actors taking the title roles of the doomed lovers, it will also be something of a homecoming. Richard Madden and Ellie Piercy both studied in Glasgow prior to turning professional. Indeed, Madden has yet to graduate from the acting course at RSAMD, and, as well as facing the pressures of playing such a meaty role in close proximity to the audience, will have the added anxiety of being assessed and graded by his tutors.

“This is the end of my third year,” says Madden following a Saturday mornin…
Post a Comment
Read more

Suzy Glass – Message from the Skies

Freedom of movement matters to Suzy Glass, the arts and events producer currently overseeing the second edition of Message from the Skies.This animated literary derive around the city forms part of this year’s Edinburgh’s Hogmanay programme, and runs right through till Burns’ Night. Glass’ concerns are inherent in the event itself, which has commissioned six writers from different disciplines and experiences to each pen a love letter to Europe. Each writer has then paired up with a composer and visual artist or film-maker, with the results of each collaboration projected in monumental fashion on the walls of one of half a dozen of the capital’s most iconic buildings.
With venues stretching from the south side of Edinburgh to Leith, and with one city centre stop requiring a walk up Calton Hill, there is considerable legwork required to complete the circuit. It shouldn’t be considered a race, however, and audiences are free to move between venues at their leisure, visiting each site on d…
Post a Comment
Read more